In Divine Murder, “Ordog apparently realized it missed these easy human targets and they weren’t crushed dead under its foot. It spied them running toward a door in the near wall. But before the beast struck again, Ahriman sprinted from the computer area and leaped on the monster’s ankle. “

Elisha Porat was a Hebrew poet and writer who said he’d never thought about writing poetry until he was a solider in the War of Yom Kippur in 1973. The war and even the death of Porat’s father inspired him to begin writing poetry non-stop.

As I rummaged through notes I made 15 years ago, I came across some I made about the inventor of the Dewey decimal System. Where this might appear odd coming from a poet, I think you might agree this note overflows with the essence of poetry. See what you think:

The study of reincarnation and the understanding of it within different religions is much more complex. But, the information here in these short descriptions is meant to illustrate the idea that reincarnation is something more than what most, who don’t practice the religions, will ever understand without much study.

Emily Dickinson is an American poet who wrote about life, love, nature and time and eternity. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830. Except for a short time at Mont Holyoke Seminary, she lived with her parents and younger sister for most of her life. Her brother and his wife lived next door.

“Our protagonist wonders if it were possible to physically engage with an angel. Two problems present themselves here: where does one find an angel, and then wouldn’t his strength overpower her? She solves both problems in the song.”

Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was an American poet known for her unadulterated chronicling of intimate and socially taboo subjects. She won the Pulitzer in 1967 for “Love or Die,” and gave her answer to that title in 1974 with her death by her own hand. She once wrote of frequent drinking dates at the Ritz with Sylvia Plath: “Often, very often, Sylvia and I would talk at length about our first suicides; at length, in detail, and in depth between the free potato chips. Suicide is, after all, the opposite of a poem.”

“Matty Groves” is a Border ballad probably originating in Northern England that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman’s husband discovers and kills them. This song exists in many textual variants and has several variant names

Books and song related to Doc Holliday. John Henry Holliday (1851-1887), known throughout the West as Doc Holliday ,was born in Georgia and educated as a dentist in Pennsylvania. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1873 and given only a half-year to live, he moved west, hoping to extend his life a few months in the dry climate. Already condemned to a slow, painful death, Holliday knew no fear in dangerous situations, and his fame grew; he teamed up with the Earp brothers during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and many historians place the amount of men he killed in the 30s. The only fellow Georgian Holliday continued to contact after he went west was his cousin, Mattie Holliday. Shortly after Doc contracted tuberculosis and left Georgia, Mattie too left their childhood world to become a Sister of Charity, entering an Atlanta convent. No correspondence between the two has survived, but it’s safe to say she had a profound impact on Doc, in that even though he had been raised a Presbyterian, it was revealed after his death at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, that he had recently been baptized in the Catholic faith.

John Henry Holliday (1851-1887), known throughout the West as Doc Holliday,was born in Georgia and educated as a dentist in Pennsylvania. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1873 and given only a half-year to live, he moved west, hoping to extend his life a few months in the dry climate. Already condemned to a slow, painful death, Holliday knew no fear in dangerous situations, and his fame grew; he teamed up with the Earp brothers during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and many historians place the amount of men he killed in the 30s. The only fellow Georgian Holliday continued to contact after he went west was his cousin, Mattie Holliday. Shortly after Doc contracted tuberculosis and left Georgia, Mattie too left their childhood world to become a Sister of Charity, entering an Atlanta convent. No correspondence between the two has survived, but it’s safe to say she had a profound impact on Doc, in that even though he had been raised a Presbyterian, it was revealed after his death at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, that he had recently been baptized in the Catholic faith.

Discover Remarkable Stories of Past Life Memory! Just another religious myth, or an actual, real phenomenon?While such esoteric concepts are near impossible to prove under controlled conditions, there does actually exist compelling evidence which suggests that we do live more than once…

Book of the Dead Poem from history of souls book and free epub download of Egyptian Literature Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings by Wilson Epiphanius, 1845-1916.

Where there’s no evidence this is a true story, it certainly could be one. Xerxes slayed hundreds of thousands of Greeks during his invasion of the democracies, so it’s not a stretch to imagine a wealthy land owner making a suicidal stand against the invaders. This song has it roots in a poem I published 20 or so years ago, by the same name; I guess I felt compelled by the situation and the thoughts running through the protagonist’s mind as he stood in a small temple at night on his property, in a thunderstorm, knowing Xerxes and his murderous army waited over the next hill.

Judy Garland was the assumed name of Frances Gumm (1922-1969). She made her stage debut at age three, spent several years in vaudeville, then at thirteen signed with MGM. She made many memorable movies, most famous of which was “The Wizard of Oz,” where she played a role originally intended for Shirley Temple. Garland’s personal life was usually in turmoil.

Artist’s note: A monument, in 1882, was placed over the grave of Peter Salem, a free black man who fought at the battle of Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, at a crucial moment in the battle, British Major John Pitcairn attempted to rally his men with the cry, “The day is ours!” when Salem, a former slave, shot him through the head.

S. Eliot (1888-1965) was arguably the most influential poet of the 20th century. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Eliot was educated at Harvard, but then moved to England where he became a British citizen in 1927. Best known for his poems “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and “The Waste Land,” Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948. According to Eliot’s instructions, his tomb was engraved with the phrase, “in the beginning is my end, in the end is my beginning.” The title of the above poem was taken from the dedication to his poem “Gerontion.”

Sandy Denny (1947-1978), English folk singer, died tragically at a young age when she fell down the steps at a friend’s home and went immediately into a coma. She passed away four days later. One of the many songs she penned was an instrumental she co-authored, “The Lord Is In This Place, How Dreadful Is This Place.”

With Anastasia’s deep roots in Indiana, we wanted to write a song about the Midwestern state, and while thinking about all the images to describe Indiana – the farmlands, rural towns, basketball, industrialized cities – one overarching thing became clear. There is a powerful, nearly overwhelming, love of country here in the heartland, transcending all else. A quick look at the news, and the verses nearly wrote themselves.

Poem about 18,000 to 20,000 members—were forcibly evicted in 1838 and endured the three-hundred-mile march generally known as the Trail of Tears. The Cherokees, calling the forced march the Trail Where They Cried, lost over 4000 people who perished due to hunger, disease, exhaustion, and exposure.

DIVINE MURDER draws the reader ever deeper into a spellbinding web of mystery. It is sheer escapism yet with a disturbing plausibility and philosophical logic underpinning each strange twist of the tale. The two central characters are well-developed, especially Zoe, who is a strong and resourceful woman, always one jump ahead of her husband in unraveling the truth behind everything that happens on her journey with him. I thoroughly recommend this compelling story concerning the divine, the diabolical and the struggles of two mortals to discover their momentous destiny.

I played hooky one morning, and drove to Amherst, happily arriving on time at the Dickinson house. The door was opened by a pretty UMASS co-ed, and I shortly realized I was the sole participant on the tour, not exactly a visit to Graceland where I would have been in a crowd, but who cares? This was Emily’s home.

Read the lyrics of the song, along with the lyricist’s thoughts about the song. Understand the meaning and the depth of the song by reading the lyricist’s motivations for writing it. In Contessa of the Willows the singer explores the stressed relationship he has with a woman who constantly seeks to find sadness in her otherwise happy circumstances. He loves her greatly, but …. read on

As the lyricist of all the songs on the CD, I must admit I rarely miss a chance to weave Reincarnation references into my lyrics. But three songs in particular deal with Reincarnation directly. Where there’s no scientific proof for Reincarnation, or for any other theology for that matter, the Ian Stevenson books come the closest so far as documenting cases of Reincarnation he directly studied. But a scientist to the end, Stevenson can’t bring himself to claim he’s proven the existence of Reincarnation, although his case studies are extremely compelling.

Our first new song this week is “Jesus & the Budda” by Entrance. The band Entrance is comprised of Jeff Stafford, Lee Dalson, Papa Boyd’O, Anastasia Shields and Ward Kelley. Their vision is to create and explore non-commercial rock platforms while drawing from the poetry of Ward Kelley. Their scope includes rock, psychedelia, folk, blues, and even a little classical.

A Ka Inside a Pyramid Ramose circa 1350 BCE.
My heart floats in the ibis jar on top
my brains and liver, all my organs mixed
together like a fetal mass . . .

and so I am back
at the womb, a time when my interior ingredients
floated indistinguishable from my exterior.

When I gain another chance at breathing,
I think I will create a creature
whose interior thoughts are more visible
to its fellows, for I now understand
most strife between us breathing ones
comes from misread intentions. READ ON

Authors Notes about The Emperor Decides to Kill Catherine: Catherine of Alexandria, (circa 213?), was a Roman Catholic saint, whose beauty so impressed the Roman Emperor Maximian that he offered to overlook her refusal to sacrifice to the gods if she would only submit to his desires. Catherine rejected his overtures, saying she was already the bride of Christ, and even converted the fifty philosophers Maximian convened to change her mind. The emperor beheaded the philosophers, then attempted to have Catherine broken on a spiked wheel, however it miraculously shattered. Instead Maximian had her beheaded, yet when he did, milk flowed from her severed neck. Where this tale was highly popular in the medieval West, most historians think it is probable Catherine never existed. Joan of Arc, though, did not concur with such skeptics; Catherine was one of the three saints Joan claimed appeared to her to offer advice in her military endeavors.

How can it be free? Instead of forcing the listeners to purchase a package deal in order to avoid having to listen to annoying advertisements, Jango allows independent and small music studios to purchase radio air time. Jango then makes listening free, at the “price” of listening to new artists between your favorite songs instead of listening to ads. Jango even allows you to pick the type of music you’d prefer to hear by the independent artists.

Poet Yehuda Amichai was an Israeli poet. He was married twice and had two sons and one daughter. As a young man he volunteered and fought in World War II as a member of the British Army, and in the Negev on the southern front in the Israeli War of Independence. He died of cancer in 2000, at age 76. Many people, worldwide, regarded Amichai as Israel’s greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew.

The song is a tribute to Emily Dickenson, taking some of her public domain poetry and adding original lyrics. The singer concludes Emily changed his life by teaching him to see things in a much different way.

Enfold is a contemporary folk album by Joan in the Fires, featuring Jessie Doyle. It combines the lyrics of poet Ward Kelley with imaginative melodies to produce a truly unique folk listening experience.

15 songs take the listener on a voyage through a Wild Mouse amusement park ride to the poets Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson to the Book of Proverbs to ancient Rome and finally to the Secret of Life, a tongue-in-cheek look at the world’s religion where the singer laments she is theologically abused. Interspaced throughout the album are new but more conventional folk songs and topics.

One thing is for certain, the listener will come away with a unique folk experience!

The Wild Mouse Song: The singer imagines the boundary between life and death as an amusement park ride, then conjectures communicating with ‘little dead souls.’

A Wild Mouse roller coaster (also Mad Mouse or Crazy Mouse) is a type of roller coaster characterized by small cars that seat four people or fewer and ride on top of the track, taking tight, flat turns (without banking) at modest speeds, yet producing high lateral G-forces. The track work is characterized by many turns and bunny hops, the latter producing abrupt negative vertical G forces.

Often readers of my novel “Divine Murder,” ask how I dreamt up the idea of physically killing God. I always confess it hit me like the proverbial thunderbolt. I was sitting on top a park bench in Ocala, FL, itching with the desire to write a new novel, but searching...

The Gypsy’s Daughter Enters the Third Reich Synopsis

Sometimes overlooked in discussions of the Holocaust are the conditions of the Gypsies, or Roma, who were subjected to the same attempt at genocide by the Nazi. Over 200,000 Gypsies lost their lives in the Holocaust. This song is the story of a Gypsy father and his nine year old daughter, as they are led towards the ovens in Auschwitz. The lyricist, the poet Ward Kelley, says, “these lyrics came from the saddest poem I ever published, but I thought it important the story of this small family was told. The poem, named the same as the song, was later nominated for the Pushcart award, and became one of my most reprinted poems. Still, I must admit, it’s difficult for me to read or contemplate this story.”

James Fox: “It is my pleasure to announce another great concert live from ” Fur Peace Ranch ” with ” Chris Hillman ” & ” Herb Pedersen ” with ” Sally Van Meter “. This will air on 4/15/16. From 8:00 to 9:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. On Blue Mountain Radio KQBM LP 103.7 FM West Point KQBM 90.7 FM San Andreas.”